A tip of the hat to all the people who continue to step up and help their community in this time of need. While much of the news we are reporting seems grim, we have also had a steady stream of positive stories coming in.
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The list of grievances against the internet is a long and sometimes sordid one.
The news on Wednesday morning that the White House and Senate leaders reached a pact on a massive relief bill was good news and will hopefully set the stage for a brighter future for the entir…
Now is not the time for red tape. It’s not the time for people to be worried if their health plan will pay for testing and treatment. So Gov. Kate Brown and legislators are discussing some goo…
East Oregonians are typically an independent bunch who take great pride in overcoming challenges, from natural disasters to forest fires to economic downturns.
A tip of the hat this week to frontline workers who are putting themselves at risk by showing up to work every day to help the rest of us get food, medical care and other essentials.
Running a small business can be a challenge in the most normal of times.
The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners’ decision Wednesday to declare a state of emergency in the county, coupled with the city of Pendleton’s decision on Tuesday to declare a state of eme…
The new coronavirus, responsible for COVID-19, has arrived in Eastern Oregon. It’s scary — there are many unknowns still and fear is prompting some of us to do things we might otherwise not.
If there was any doubt we are now living in a new, vastly changed world, those misgivings should have been appropriately vanquished during the weekend.
A kick in the pants to those fanning the flames of misinformation and alarm regarding the potential pandemic from COVID-19.
For those of us keeping up with current events, there has been a whirlwind of dramatic developments over the last few days as governments at every level, national sports leagues, state and loc…
Gov. Kate Brown signed an executive order Tuesday directing state agencies to significantly slash carbon emissions, a move that may not be unexpected, but one that ultimately makes a bad situa…
Gov. Kate Brown has shown some real leadership over the past 10 days or so, helping get flood relief to Umatilla County and acting decisively regarding the COVID-19 outbreak.
A kick in the pants to those spreading misinformation regarding the potential pandemic from COVID-19.
Republican lawmakers remain on the lam as the last day for the legislative short session draws near to prevent Democrats from having a quorum so they can pass sweeping regulations on Oregon’s …
Gov. Kate Brown did the right thing earlier this week when she asked for more help from federal authorities to help battle the emerging COVID-19 crisis.
We’ve said it would be a bad idea to breech the dams on the Lower Snake River. A report commissioned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration and Bureau of Reclamat…
There is no denying news about the novel coronavirus arrival on the West Coast is a real and growing concern, but panic is the wrong move for residents of our great state.
A kick in the pants to the Oregon Legislature. There may still be time to diffuse what is rapidly becoming a political Battle of Verdun in Salem, but issuing subpoenas — as the Democratically-…
Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg is finding out that things you said in the years prior to the campaign can come back to haunt you.
Here we go again.
Oregon businesses, at least most of those with commercial activity in the state that brings in more than $1 million a year, face a new tax this year. The Corporate Activity Tax was created by …
As predicted, Democrats in the Oregon Legislature quickly led their climate change bill out onto center stage as soon as the 2020 Legislature convened earlier this month, reigniting a contenti…
A tip of the hat to the generosity of organizations and folks from across the region that was evident in the wake of the flood in Umatilla County for the past couple of weeks.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown last week threw her weight behind the effort to remove the dams on the lower Snake River.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said it best last weekend when he arrived to view the damage caused by the flooding of the Umatilla and Walla Walla rivers.
Oregon lawmakers are being asked to set a goal for Oregon State Police. Senate Bill 1545 would require the state police to have at least 15 patrol troopers per 100,000 Oregonians. Today, there…
Selfless sacrifice isn’t common, but during the recent flooding across the county, numerous agencies and people stepped up to help in an uncommon way.
A tip of the hat to local lawmakers who continue to make town hall meetings a key part of the way they interact with their constituents. We’ve made the case for the importance of town hall mee…
Leaders of Oregon’s timber industry and some of the state’s best known environmental groups took an important first step Monday when they announced they’ve agreed to work out their differences…
Tough times bring out the best and worst in people.
You may not generally think of it this way, but an unpaid fine for a traffic ticket can have a huge impact on a person’s life, particularly if you’re poor, or homeless, or live in a rural area…
The American Red Cross held training sessions last weekend for volunteers, but the renowned relief organization still needs assistance as it works to help area residents recover from flood damage.
This is space is normally devoted to our weekly Tips and Kicks editorial in which we alternately salute the good and point out the bad of the weekly news cycle. This week, however, we see noth…
Politicians like to talk a lot.
A collaborative plan to mentor youth locally not only creates opportunities now but sets the stage for success in the future
The ostensible purpose of Oregon’s Public Records Law is both simple and noble.
Some crimes leave their victims so damaged that they’ll never fully recover. Then, as if to pour salt in their wounds, the very people who hurt them are given relatively light prison sentences…
Since it was passed by the Oregon Legislature last year as part of its education reform package, we’ve been hearing producers and vendors express concerns over the state’s corporate activity tax.
A tip of the hat to the Holocaust survivors, their decedents and others who worked to educate the world during International Holocaust Awareness Day.
The Pendleton Police Department made a great leap forward recently when it rolled out its new body camera policy.
The latest coronavirus to take hold in China has killed more than 100 to date and prompted the Chinese government to attempt to isolate more than 50 million of its people in an attempt to stop…
As downtowns across Eastern Oregon age, a number of older buildings — some historic, some not — are in desperate need of repairs, upgrades or, in some extreme cases, demolition.
A tip of the hat to those who worked so diligently to ensure that a public-private partnership to purchase more than 1,000 acres of property to protect a high-mountain moraine at Wallowa Lake …
Stepping up to volunteer to help your community can be a difficult decision, but the need locally for help only continues to rise.
The state pension system is the toughest challenge Oregon faces that our leaders in Salem are likely to diligently avoid.
Oregon legislators will hit the 2020 legislative session on Feb. 3, and while there are already a number of high-profile bills on the horizon, elected leaders should remember that complex legi…
There couldn’t be a clearer case about both the value and flaws in Oregon’s public records law than the current one in Douglas County.
A tip of the hat to Tygh Campbell, Umatilla Electric Cooperative linemen and all of those citizens who joined together to help pull vehicles from ditches and plow roadways so stranded motorist…
Almost any Oregon legislator can launch into a passionate speech about how much they believe in accountability and transparency. But they don’t always deliver.
Successful police work has always hinged on the involvement of the community, and that is why the recent effort by members of the Milton-Freewater community to create a citizens patrol is such…
The Oregon Senate’s Interim Committee on Environment and Natural Resources has unveiled the Legislature’s latest version of climate change legislation.
The Oregon Legislature created the office of public records advocate in 2017, and Ginger McCall was appointed to the post in January 2018 by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. One year and nine months la…